Shining stars
by chloemcg
Summary: Professor Layton and Luke go and help a little girl who is sick with Cancer. What will happen?


**Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton nor Luke Triton since they both belong to Level-5 games and nobody else, in fact I own nobody of the professor layton franchise! **

**The only person I made up would have to be Rosie, a Lukemia patient who was made specially for this Children in need special.**

**Shining stars.**

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><p>Professor Hershel Layton and his apprentice Luke Triton walked down the street with a hop in their steps as they took a certain route that the professor was certainly eager to go down even though he never thought he would actually take it unless some kind of injury occurs.<p>

He clutched a piece of paper in his hand, folding it neatly before stuffing it into his coat pocket. He also had a scarlet balloon tied to his wrist as the party-associated accessory bobbed up and down in the wind while the two gentlemen walked towards a certain children's hospice. Luke, however, seemed completely (and I use the term loosely) puzzled by their destination.

Luke furrowed one brow and raised the other as he frowned in utter confusion. Why were they going to a children's hospital? Surely the professor couldn't know any sick patients there, could he? It would sort of explain the balloon but still...

"Professor?" Luke began cluelessly as he glanced up at the top-hat-wearing archeology professor "where are we going?"

The professor glanced down at the inquisitive young lad and playfully reached down and patted the blue cap his apprentice wore. He could hardly blame Luke for being completely curious and blind to the situation since he was left in the dark of this little travel.

Earlier that same morning Professor Layton had a note shoved through the letter slot in the door and whence he examined it, he found that it was a form for a children's charity that contained all the details of a young orphaned girl who only wished to spend a day with him.

Professor Layton, being who he was, just couldn't refuse the offer and immediately got Luke up and now here they were walking in broad daylight towards a tall and somewhat opposing building.

Neither gentlemen knew what to expect whence they reached their destination.

They could be in for a major surprise here.

"You see, my boy," The professor began with a knowing little grin "our presence has been requested by a very special young lady named Rosie." he went on to explain the whole thing as he walked confidently alongside his young apprentice with a slight bounce in his step.

"Rosie Greenery has been a sufferer of leukemia; a form of cancer, and is currently in a terminal status with the condition. This organisation has asked if I could come and cheer her up because apparently she is a fan of our works."

Luke was confused about this all. A sick young girl wanted to see the Professor and himself? This should be a huge honour to meet an inspiration for people with ailments everywhere and he was happy to be apart of it, yet he was also a bit worried. He hated seeing people sick, especially girls.

He arched a brow and frowned.

However, before he could ask any more, Professor Layton and himself stopped in their tracks when they reached a tall hospital building that sent chills down the Professors apprentice's spine, intimidating him quite to an extent. They stood there for a few moments until they braved the storm and entered through the double doors so they could reach the upper level of this tall building via the escalator.

It took a short few minutes or so until they finally reached the ward with such childish and pretty colours painting the walls and little plastic toys being lined in a row to amuse younger patients who wished to get out of bed or for any incredibly little visitors who may have deemed them of interest.

The children's ward wasn't a very cheerful place, admittedly.

Loud screeching echoed in both the English pairs ears, making it apparent that quite a few babies in the ward were bawling their little heads off, and a few young children just lain in their hospital beds like lifeless rag dolls.

They didn't seem very energetic but that was probably because they didn't feel well and didn't have the motivation to do much, not even with visitors squeezing through the hallways.

The walls were sort of bland and lit up like a set of neon lights but neither the Professor nor Luke really cared about that right now. They just needed to find Rosie.

"Excuse me." The professor politely tapped on the shoulder of a kind nurse who smiled instantly upon seeing him and not for the reasons you would think if you met someone who is basically a celebrity.

She smiled warmly at the top-hat-wearing gent and her eyes lit up like little lights. "Oh! Mr. Layton and Luke Triton, I presume?"

The professor nodded with a smile. He was glad that his arrival was to have been expected, it was a welcomed greeting to be sure. He tipped his top hat in confirmation and he asked in a very refined manner as he bowed his head respectively.

"Indeed madam, I have come looking for a young miss 'Rosie' who seems to have eluded my sights." The professor used a rather teasing tone for that last bit as he could very clearly hear a faint hint of childish giggling coming from a little ways behind and Luke had also quickly registered those sounds as well although he was clueless about their origins.

Quickly catching the professor's drift, the nurse smiled and giggled quietly.

She pointed an eager finger towards a small cubicle and mutedly directed the two gentlemen towards their charge for the day and, as soon as the professor entered the room with Luke in two, they were greeted with a sight that brightened up their day so much more than they thought as they saw the smiling little face of a little girl who bounced in her bed whilst she wore a cone-shaped princess hat with a precious pink veil attached.

The little girl was clearly sick. Her skin was tinged with yellow, there were some subtle hints of dark rings surrounding her eyes and her throat sounded a bit raw and agitated whenever she made a vocal noise but she did seem very energetic just like any young child would when they were overjoyed.

"Oh my gosh! its Professor Layton!" The girl squeaked happily, the soreness in her throat apparent, and she glanced up at the two gents who so promptly came into her room with grins on their faces "And Luke too!"

The top hatted gentleman of archeology chuckled warmly at seeing the girl's reaction to his presence. He couldn't deny it, she was actually very endearing and it made the professor's heart swell up with compassion. Luke shared the same feelings towards her but kept himself quiet.

Professor Layton tipped his top hat to her "Hahaha, indeed my dear. You must be Rosie."

The girl, named Rosie, bobbed her bald head up and down in a nodding motion. She pulled the blankets off her bed up to her nose while grinning widely, her little hands squeezing the soft fabric and she shyly closed her eyes for a moment. She was probably trying to hide a blush rising to her cheeks but neither the Professor nor Luke minded.

Professor Layton smiled as he walked to her and knelt down by her bedside with a soft grin on his face. His voice was soft and rather hushed as he took one of her hands into his own in a kind way and gently patted them, asking a very gentle question.

"Rosie, did you make a request that you wished to spend the day with Luke and I?"

Rosie giggled and nodded her head, smiling very happily as her eyes squinted out of pure joy. The absolute joy she felt was contagious and her bouncy personality was radiating from her soul and spreading throughout the whole ward. She brought her little legs to her chest in an attempt to stop herself from bouncing up and down on her mattress from joy.

Professor Layton smirked, continuing "Well a little organisation had contacted me and informed me about this desire and Luke and myself wanted to spend some time with you and take you out."

Luke stepped up and smiled happily in surprise. So that was why they were here! They were here to take a special little girl out and make her feel special! He couldn't deny it, he felt really excited to have been doing this.

He decided to add with a grin "Ooh, we can show you around London! We can go and see Big ben and solve lots and lots of puzzles!"

Rosie flicked her head up and down in rapid nods, her smile growing ever brighter.

Professor Layton straightened up and stood up so he could go and gather the child's wheelchair that sat in one corner of the room. He wrapped his digits around the bars and he examined the mode of transportation, it was all pink and sparkly and decorated with pretty little fairy lights that were wrapped around the arm rests.

He commented in a kindly tone "My word, this chair is so colourful and delightfully endearing!" He looked back to the little girl in the bed "Are you sure that this is yours? It certainly looks like something crafted just for a special little lady."

Rosie smiled, trying to hide a blush.

She loved her wheelchair, it reflected her personality like how a rubber glove would fit on to a hand with ease. She tried her best to sit up on her bed but was a little weak in the legs to do so, making her breathless within those few shifts of her position.

"When are we going, Professor?" She asked, a squeak in her strained voice.

Chuckling at her impatience, Professor Layton parked the chair by the girl's bed and furrowed a brow at her as he looked down at her with a grin. He was actually delighted to be meeting such an eccentric little girl such as her, it pained him that she was actually going through this life-and-death battle and was now in a hospice.

He decided not to dwell on it, though; he was supposed to smile for her! And smile he shall!

"Now, now, my dear." He reached down and tapped her on the nose "the nurses are just going to disconnect you from your machines and then we shall leave."

Rosie smiled but both Luke and Professor Layton could tell that she wanted to leave for the outdoors really bad. Sadly the only thing keeping her in bed and in this place was the fact that she was connected to a few machines that were obviously feeding some pain medication into her little veins and she even spared a moment to glare at the despised medications even if they were the only thing keeping her condition stable.

Eventually, after a minute or two, some nurses came and disconnected little Rosie from the machines and the professor gladly hoisted her out of the bed and gently eased her down into the sparkly pink manual wheelchair.

Grabbing the bars meant to steer the chair, Professor Layton happily proceeded to push the girl in the chair with Luke cantering joyfully alongside them as he chatted away to the cancer-stricken girl wearing the pink princess hat sitting in the chair. She even wore a pretty pink gown to match her cone hat.

The archaeologist smirked joyfully as he pushed the wheelchair along the halls and he listened to the children's conversation with open ears. Luke even rambled on and on about puzzles and how amazing his adventures were whilst Rosie looked at the Professor's apprentice with awe at what she was hearing.

No doubt about it, this was going to be magnificent.

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><p>Weeks later...<p>

Professor Layton and Luke stood before a freshly dug grave, deep frowns etched on their faces as they read the words embedded into the stone slab. The words written there that bore the name of the deceased little child were so heart-breaking as the pair just stood with a balloon tied to one end of the grave being one of the main things that had caught their attention. The party accessory bobbed and hovered in the breeze, mocking the sadness of this atmosphere with its cheerful presence.

Weeks had passed since the two had escorted the young cancer patient around London, they enjoyed their time together and wished that it would last forever. But she had to go back to the hospital after a few hours since she had grown horribly unwell and her stomach had begun to clench in pain. After returning her to hospital after an eventful day the pair wished the girl well and decided to visit her again but, upon coming up to the hospital days later, Professor Layton and Luke had been horrified to discover that Rosie Greenery had been pronounced deceased as she had lost her battle with cancer. The news hit Professor Layton and his apprentice so hard that it was like a roundhouse kick to the stomach. A little girl had perished because of a battle she had spent so much energy trying to beat but it seemed in the end...not even your hardest can be enough.

The puzzle-loving archaeologist dipped his hat low as he hung his head to hide his side expression whilst Luke had tears streaming down his cheeks in remorse as he wrung a tissue inside his fumbling grasp and he scuffled his feet against the dirt ground below. Both of them felt utter grief on this depressing occasion as they tried their best to remain silent and not say a word to actually bring on the waterworks flooding in their ocular structures.

Coming to the same realization that a little girl had died was almost enough to reduce the duo to tears.

Finally, his voice cracking, Professor Layton stepped forwards and looked down at the gravestone as he said to it "Hello, Rosie. We are sorry we were not there at your funeral but we thought that we should say our "farewells" on our own terms."

He sighed shakily, a shudder squirming up his spine as he tried his best not to shed any tears since a Gentleman never cried in public.

He couldn't cry, not now.

As if on cue, Luke also stepped forwards. He clutched a bouquet of floral arrangements but most of them consisted in pink. They were the girl's favorite colouration and all so it seemed right to have her grave be decorated with such precious little flowers with delicate petals. The young apprentice of the professor knelt down in front of the dirt patch and placed the flowers down atop the freshly dug gravestone.

Only after staring at the stone slab for moments at a time did Luke stand up but he was failing at keeping those pesky tears at bay. He was crying bucket-loads of tears and he stepped back a bit with him trying to stifle some sobs and sniffles that were managing to flow from his voice box. Without really noticing, he felt a certain someone pull him in as he buried his tear-stained face into the fabric of a certain brown trench coat.

The professor gently rubbed Luke's back to try and calm him down as he held him close. He shared Luke's despair for their little friend and he even patted the boy's back as he dipped his head low and sighed in a hushed whisper and he closed his eyes in remorse.

But suddenly the professor felt some sort of warmth overcome both himself and Luke. He opened his eyes and lifted them up to the skies above and discovered that a small ray of sunlight managed to peak out from a gap in the dark storm clouds looming overhead like a swarm of ravens and sparrows and had swallowed the both of them up in a nature-inspired spotlight.

Professor Layton said nothing but he managed a very small but heartfelt smile. This small shine of light had managed to fill him with some sort of comfort, pouring a loving warmth into his heart and filling a sort of blissful clarity in its place. He noticed that Luke, too, was staring up at the sky but he was now more curious and had stopped crying his little eyes out.

This had filled the gentleman with some reassurance. Wherever Rosie was now, now free of the binds that had once chained her to the ground, she was going to be fine and well-cared for.

"...Goodbye, dear little Rosie." He said with a small smile, looking up at the sky with Luke.

They stayed in each other's arms and didn't dare let go, they needed a bit longer to celebrate the life of their lost little friend.

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><p><strong>AN: Hi everyone. This was made specially for "Children in need" so please forgive me if this was a depressing fic. I am just trying to raise awareness and make a fanfic about it. **

**This is for people who are having a rough time, anyone who has hard times should know something: They are not alone. If you need a shoulder to cry on then there will always be someone to help you, just don't bottle all that emotion up inside. **

**Anyways, I hope you liked the fanfic and please enjoy BBC's Children in Needs special tomorrow night. **

**Thanks.**

**-Chloemcg**


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